Christmas in March!

Okay, I bought presents for myself.  [nerd moment]  One of my favorite things about Nashville is the public library system that lets you order whatever books you want to read to the library closest to you for free - and then they put them on a special shelf with your name on it for easy access.  It's pretty amazing.  But anyway, every so often there are times when the library doesn't have a book I want, so I wait till I have $25 worth of these sorts of books (Amazon free shipping, baby ;) and then order them.  These came today and I am quite excited to dive in! :)

Greek and Thai

This shady (although well lit inside) restaurant we went to a couple weeks ago ended up being very timely as a new pope has recently been chosen.  Assumedly run by Catholic Egyptians (unless Coptic Christians have similar beliefs), this Greek place has a photo that was both Jesus and Mary depending how you looked at it.  Okay, it was a little creepy, but also a pretty entertaining illusion. ;)

This was also the place where we discovered our new favorite Arabic phrase, "Yalla habibi!"

Last night we headed to a sketchy-looking Thai place, but it ended up being really nice on the inside!  And I must admit that the leftovers were even better today!  One of my co-workers joined us on this jaunt and I was pretty impressed with Carly and Kierston for allowing all manner of ER talk during dinner. :o) Here's a couple of our ideas for the future: (okay, I have a penchant for those also written in Arabic ;)

One of my patients cracked me up today by informing me "y'all have the best dope in town!" after receiving some narcotic pills.  As I was encouraging another patient to drink more water, he said, "I already drink as much water as a cow!"

Are cows known to be big water drinkers?

Have you sampled a lot of the dope in this town?

Is there a more entertaining job than ER nurse?

:)

March?!

Oh dear.  Was my last post really over a month ago?!  Well my friends, I am still alive and well and hope to update you soon on life happenings. :-)  Till then, some encouragement from the Word...

The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock!   -Psalm 18

And a caution for all Christians!  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?  Galatians 3:3   It is by His grace, my friends, only by His grace!

Modest is Hottest?

The setting: Al Ain, United Arab Emirates – the oasis in the desert

The characters: A 28-year-old American girl, her father, and an Arab woman in her 60’s

Our scene opens as the American girl chats with her father in Lulu’s, a popular grocery store.  They are waiting for their lunch order to be filled and she asks him to throw a samosa in with the Indian dish because she thinks samosas are tasty delights.  Our girl is not wearing a head scarf, but is sporting long, loose pants, a loose-fitting shirt, and a long-sleeved cardigan – quite modest by America standards, and appropriate to the city.

Someone tugs on the girl’s arm and she looks down at a very short, rotund older Arab woman.  Hello, she says, tilting her head down with a smile. *tug*  It came again. *tug*  Sensing the woman wanted to whisper something to her, the tall girl leans down.

“Excuse me, I really don’t mean to be impertinent, but I wanted to tell you something.”

The girl assured her that it was no problem and to go right ahead.

“Well, I just thought that maybe you would want to know so I came over to tell you.”

The girl reassured her to go on.

“You see, if I was in your position I would want to know so I came over to tell you because I would want someone to do that for me.”

The girl nodded, thinking furiously about what this could be about, checked the aisles for other people’s heads…yup, other people's heads were uncovered, too, but maybe the woman wanted her to wear a head scarf anyway?  No problem – she had a spare in her purse.

“So I guess I will just tell you because I am in a position easy to see such things…”

By now the girl is thinking ‘Seriously, woman! I’ve got a crick in my neck from leaning down in your face for so long,’ but keeps an encouraging look on her face so the woman will keep talking and hopefully get to the point.

“I believe your zipper is undone.”

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Yes, ladies and gentlemen, sure enough.  In the Middle East, arguably the most modest region in the world, I had omitted to XYZ…and had never been so thankful for the ease of that simple phrase – XYZ – till then. :P  I thanked the woman and she gave me a knowing smile and told me to have a nice day.  I surreptitiously fixed said issue and headed out to a park with my dad for a picnic lunch…finally modest. ;)

ER Book Club Meeting #2

 

"If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for?  Isn't love hard to believe?

Don't you bully me with your politeness!  Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist.  God is hard to believe, ask any believer.  What is your problem with hard to believe?"

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"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways."

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"Humiliation?  Death?  I couldn't imagine Lord Krishna consenting to be stripped naked, whipped, mocked, dragged through the streets and, to top it all off, crucified - and at the hands of mere humans, to boot.  I'd never heard of a Hindu god dying. ... Why would God wish that upon Himself?  Why not leave death to mere mortals?  Why make dirty what is beautiful, spoil what is perfect?"

  "Love."